Furniture leg glider



Sept. 11, 1951 R. E. MILLER FURNITURE LEG GLIDER Filed Sept 22, 1950INVENTOR. oberf E Mlle)- mp. Ww

Patentecl Sept. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IT EPE DE RobertEtlldiller, Bronxville, N. .Y.

Application September 22, 1950, Serial No. 186 1 1 t I 1 This inventionrelates 'to appliances for' the legs" of furniture and specifically toan improved leg mount on which the furniture is adapted to movesubstantially noiselessly over the floor.

In my copending application Serial No. 146,808,

filed February 28, 1950, I have disclosed a furni ture leg mount ofnovel construction which may be readily inserted into a hole in thebottom of the furnitureleg to provide a firm grip on the sidewalls ofthe hole at all times, the mount being arranged to efiect a cushionin'gaction between the floor and the furniture leg. The mount as disclosedin the aforesaid copending application comprises a metal cap'or otherfloor-engaging element secured to a resilient member or cushion; whichmay be made of rubber. This cushion is; interposed between thecap andthe bottom of-"the' furniture leg. An assembly pin projectsupwardl'y'from the cushion through a retainer seat supported by thecushion and extending intothe hole in the bottom of thefurnitureleg'when the mount is in place. Above the seat is-a retainerin'the form of a polygonal piece of flexible material; preferably springmetal, which is secured to the assembly pin and held thereby against theseat. The corners of the retainer protrude laterally'from the seat andare adapted to impinge acutely upon the side walls of the leg hole; Whenthe retainer is forced upwardly into the leg hole by'press'ure on thebottom of the mount, the side walls of the hole will flex the outer orcorner parts of the retainer downwardly more or less, depending upon thesize and shape of the hole. Thus, the retainer provides the necessarybite to hold the mount firmly in place, regardless of whether the holeis round or square and even though the size of the hole does not conformto a certain standard.

One object of the'present invention is to provide an improved mount ofthe character de scribed which is adapted for use on a furniture legextending at an acute angle to the floor.

A further object is to provide a mount for a furniture leg extending atan acute angle to the floor, which will readily accommodate differentangles of the leg. Y v

Another object is to provide animproved leg mount of the characterdescribedwhich is arranged to provide greater fiexibiilty'of thepolygonal retainer than in the mount disclosed in my aforesaid copendingapplication, and which is of a simplified construction.

A mount made according to the invention comprises a floor-engagingelement and a cushion secured thereto in position to lie between the '16Claims. (01. 16-42 bottom of the furniture leg and the floorengagingelement; A washer -is supported ontop of the cushion and hasaperip'heralportion engageable with-the bottom of the-furniture legaroun'd a holeinthe-lega In its centralpor-tion, the Washer hasan openingand-a seatsurrounding the opening.-- An assembly pin-projects upward from thecushion and through the-washeropening, a compressionspringbeing-coiledaround the pin and seated at its lower end onthe washer seat.- Apolygonal-flexible retainer o'nthe-pin has corners projecting laterallyfrom the pin and engageable with the side Walls 0f -theleghole toretainth mount on the leg; -Thegpolygonal retaineris held downagainstthe coiledvcome pressionspring by meansof a keeper on the: pin, wherebythe spring is compressed between the retainer and the seat formed by thewasher. Thus the compression spring serves to drawethe assembly pinupward in the cushion and away from. the floor-engaging-element, and italso al.- lows the-retainer-to flex freely and slide downward ontheassembly pin as theretaine-r is forced into the leg hole? Preferably,the keeper forthe retainer consists of nibs-integralwith. the assemblypin and projecting-laterallytherefrom over the central portion of theretainer, and washers are interposed between the: retainer and'the nibsand also betweenthe retainer and the com.- pressionspring orbiasingimember. When the mount is to be used for furniture legsextending at an acute'angle to the :fioor, the assembly pin isarranged-to-projectupward from the cushion at an acute angle to thebottom.of the floor-engaging element; and the-central portion of theretaineris-held in-a plane normal to the pin but inclined relativeto thebottomof. the floor-engaging element; In this form of the mount, Iprefer to provide between the compression spring and the cushion awasher having in its central portion. a-seat which is inclinedrelativeto the. peripheral portionof .the washerfem gaging .the-bottomof thefurniture leg the seat thus being approximately normal to the axis .ofthe compression springer other biasing; element surrounding theassembly; pin and; pressing against the polygonal retainer. This washermay be of an oval shape to-conform generally to the oval opening inthebottom of the, inclined furniture leg.

The retainer of the new m'ount preferably comprises a pair of;superimposed leaf springs extending in the same direction or, if thefurniture leg is at right angles to the floor, extending crosswise toeach other. In this way, the retainer provides greater holding power andis easier to apply to the furniture leg.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view ofone form of the new mount, showing it inserted into a hole in the bottomof a furniture leg extending at an acute angle to the floor;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the washer between the biasing element and thecushion, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of part of a modified form of the mount, showing adifferent arrangement of the leaf springs forming the retainer, and

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the lower part of another form ofthe mount, showing a different arrangement of the assembly pin in thecushion.

Referring to the drawing, the mount comprises a floor-engaging element Iwhich, as illustrated, is in the form of a metal glide shoe. The shoe issecured to an overlying cushion 2, which may be made of rubber, as byturning the edges Ia of the shoe inwardly and embedding them in thesides of the cushion. Above the cushion and supported on it is a metalbase member or washer 3 having at its central portion an opening 3a andan inclined seat 31) surrounding the opening. The seat 31) is inclinedat an acute angle relative to the horizontal peripheral portion 30 ofthe washer, which engages the bottom of the furniture leg around thehole therein when the mount is supplied to the leg. The central portionof the washer 3 is raised above the level of the peripheral portion orflange 3c and forms an annular ridge 3d surrounding the inclined seat3b.

An assembly pin 4, which may be a nail, projects upward from the cushion2 and through the washer opening 3a, the pin having at its lower end ahead 4a engaging the bottom of the cushion but normally raised slightlyfrom the underlying shoe I. As shown particularly in Fig. 1, the head 4aof the assembly pin is off-set from the central part of the cushion 2,and the pin extends upward through the cushion and the washer opening311 at an acute angle to the bottom of the shoe I. A biasing member 5 isengaged at its lower end on the inclined washer seat 3b, this memberbeing shown in the form of a compression spring coiled around theintermediate portion of the assembly pin 4.

A polygonal retainer 6 made of flexible material, preferably springmetal, is secured to. the assembly pin 4 above the compression spring 5.As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the retainer consists of a pair ofsuperimposed leaf springs 6-6a of rectangular shape, and the assemblypin extends upward through central openings in the leaf springs. Thecorners of the polygonal retainer 6 protrude outwardly from the pin 4and are normally curved or bowed downward toward the washer 3. Theretainer 6 is held against upward movement relative to the pin 4 by akeeper 4b, which preferably consists of nibs formed integrally with theassembly pin and extending laterally over the central portion of theretainer from opposite sides of the pin. A washer I is interposedbetween the retainer 6 and the upper end of the compression spring 5,and another washer 1a is interposed between the retainer and the keeper4b. The latter thus serves to hold the retainer 6 down against thecompression spring 5, so that 4 the spring is held under substantialcompression between the retainer and the inclined seat 31) of thewasher. In this way, the head 4a of the assembly pin is drawn upwardinto the cushion 2 and out of contact with the metal shoe I.

The leg mount as described and illustrated is adapted to be applied to afurniture leg 8 which extends at an acute angle to the floor. When theupper part of the mount is engaged in the hole 8a in the bottom of thefurniture leg 8, the corners 0f the spring metal retainer 6 are forceddownward as necessary to adapt the mount to the internal dimensions andform of the leg hole Be. That is, the smaller the space in which theretainer 6 is confined, the more the corners of the retainer will beflexed downward by engagement with the side walls of the hole 8a whenthe retainer is forced upwardly into the hole. The retainer is forcedinto the leg hole by pressure applied to the bottom of the shoe I, theshoe I being held in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of thebottom of the leg 8, with the pin 4 extending into the hole 8a along itscentral axis. This movement of the retainer into the hole 8a causes theperipheral flange 3c of the washer to engage the bottom of the leg 8around the hole 8a, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby preventing furthermovement of the retainer in the leg. Due to the downward flexing of thecorner portions of the retainer Ii when it is pushed into the hole 8a,the central part of the retainer acts upon the keeper 4b to draw the pinhead 4a upward from the shoe I and further compress the cushion 2. Whenthe upward pressure against the bottom of shoe I is released, afterengagement of washer 3 with the bottom of the furniture leg, the cushion2 and the compression spring 5 will expand and act to draw the centralpart of the retainer 6 downward, thereby increasing the pressure betweenthe corners of the retainer and the side walls of the hole 801.. Thisincreases the biting of the retainer corners into the side walls of thehole, so that a firmer grip is obtained between the mount and the leg.

The sharp corners of the retainer 6 provide better holding qualitiesthan an ordinary flat surface or toe engaging the side walls of the hole8a, due to the fact that all of the spring pressure of the retainer isconcentrated at four points, that is, at the four corners of theretainer as illustrated. The oblique angle at which the corner portionsof the retainer 6 approach the walls of the leg hole 8a affords a strongresistance to buckling of the retainer when a withdrawing force isapplied to the mount, as contrasted with prior mounts where acomparatively weak pull will buckle the retainer. Moreover, the newmount can be applied with equal facility to furniture legs having bottomholes of either round or square cross section andof different sizes, andin cases where the holes are of square or rectangular cross section thecorners of the retainer 6 may be engaged with either the flats or thecorners defining the hole.

The sound insulating properties of the new mount are highly effective asa result of the floating or cushioned coupling between theshoe I and theflexible retainer 6. As previously mentioned, the flexing of theretainer acts to draw the asesmbly pin 4 away from the metal shoe I,thereby insuring against metal-to-metal contact between these parts. Thecushion 2 serves to absorb shocks and vibrations incident to moving thefurniture, and, together with the compression spring 5', keeps the.mount. tight at all time's..

The oval washer -3 can bemade. to accommodate a wide range of .angles of.the. furniture leg 8 relative to the floor, by making the major. axisof the washer short enough so that the .raised portion of the,washerwill fitinto thehole of a leg having the nearest angle to.90 withrespect to the floor... Itwill beunderstoodthat as the angle of. thelegBurelativeto the floor decreases,.the major axisof theovalentrance tothe' l'eg'hole'fl'a will; increase. However, if the washer 3 is sodimensioned that its raised central portion will fit into thehole ea of-a leg having a maximum angle relative tothe floor, thatis, an oval holehaving a minimum diameter on its major axis, the raised portion of thewasher will also fit into the hole 8a of a leg. having a considerablysmaller angle relative to the floor,.that is, an oval hole havingaiconsiderably l rger diameter on its mittens. Within this range, thevhorizontal flange 3d atthe peripheral portion of the washer will seatfirmly against the bottom of the 'leg aroundthe hole" 8a, even though.--the extent to' which"tl'iis"liange may lap under the leg may vary atthe opposite sides of the hole on its major axis, as viewed in Fig. 1.It will be appreciated that the angle of the leg 8 relative to the floormay vary considerably without affecting the extent to which the washerflange 30 laps under the leg at opposite sides of the hole on its minoraxis, as viewed in Fig. 2.

The new mount also has the advantage that oval washers 3 of speciallength along their major axes may be furnished to accommodate anyparticular angle of the furniture leg 8 relative to the floor, the otherparts of the mount being standard for any angle of the leg.

By reason of the inclined seat 312 of the washer, the latter can seatitself readily and properly against the bottom of the inclined leg 8, inspite of the inclination of the assembly pin 4 relative to the plane ofthe bottom of the leg and the bottom of the shoe I. Also, the inclinedseat 31), being approximately normal to the axis of the spring 5, holdsthe spring properly in position to exert the maximum thrust on theretainer 6 and the washer 3. The spring holds the retainer against thekeeper 4b so that the central portion of the spring is in a plane normalto the axis of the pin but inclined at an acute angle of the bottom ofthe shoe I.

I have illustrated in Fig, 4 a modified arrangement of the leaf springs6-6a which is designed particularly for a furniture leg 80 extending atright angles to the floor. As shown in Fig. 4, the leaf springs 6 and6a. of the retainer extend at right angles to each other. In this case,the pressure of the retainer against the walls of the leg hole 80a isconfined to eight points instead of four points, as in the formillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Instead of providing a straight assembly pin 4 with its head ofiset fromthe central part of the cushion 2, as shown in Fig. 1, the arrangementillustrated in Fig. 5 may be used. As there shown, the assembly pin 40has its head 40a centered in the cushion 2; but between the top of thecushion and the washer seat 3b the pin is formed with a bend 400 so thatthe upper portion of the pin projects from the cushion at the prescribedacute angle to the washer flange 3c and the bottom of the glider I.Thus, at the region of the washer seat 3b and beyond this seat the pin40 extends 6 in a directionnormalto thefseat 3b and parallel to the axisof. the leg 8.

Iclaim: I 1

1. A mount for insertion in a hole in the bottom of a furniture leg,which comprises a floor-engaging element, a cushion secured to saidelement and positionedthereon to lie between the -bottom of theleg-andsaid element, a" washer overlying the cushion and supported thereon, thewasher having a peripheral-portion engageable with the bottom Oithe legaroundsaid hole and also having an opening in its central portion and aseat surrounding the opening, an assembly pin projecting upward from thecushionand through said washer opening, a compression spring coiledaround thepin and engaged at its lower end on the seat, a polygonalflexible retaineron the pin having corners protruding laterally fromthepin and engageable with the side walls of the leg hole to retain themount on the leg, and a keeper -on the pin for holding the retainer downag-ai 'nst the spring, whereby the spring is compressed between theretainer and said seat. Y

2. A mount according to claim -1, in whichthe cornersof the retainer arenormally bowed downward 41).":

3. A mount according to claim 1, in which the assembly pin has a headdisposed between the cushion and the floor-engaging element but spacedfrom said element.

4. A mount according to claim 1, comprising also a washer on the pininterposed between the retainer and the upper end of the spring.

5. A mount according to claim 1, comprising also a washer on the pininterposed between the retainer and the keeper.

6. A mount according to claim 1, in which the keeper includes nibs onthe pin overlying the retainer.

7. A mount according to claim 1, in which the retainer includes a pairof superimposed leaf springs.

8. A mount for insertion in a hole in the bottom of a furniture legextending at an acute angle to the floor, which comprises afloor-engaging element, a cushion secured to said element and positionedthereon to lie between the bottom of the leg and said element, a washeroverlying the cushion and supported thereon, the washer having agenerally horizontal peripheral portion engageable with the bottom ofthe leg around said hole and also having an opening in its centralportion and a seat surrounding said opening and inclined relative tosaid horizontal portion, an assembly pin projecting upward from thecushion at an acute angle to said horizontal portion and extendingthrough said washer opening, a polygonal flexible retainer on the pinabove the washer and having corners protruding laterally from the pinand engageable with the side walls of the leg hole to retain the mounton the leg, a yieldable biasing member interposed between the retainerand the inclined seat, and a keeper on the pin for holding the retainerdown against the biasing member, and thereby compressing said memberagainst the seat.

9. A mount according to claim 8, in which the washer is of oval form toconform generally to the shape of the bottom of said hole.

10. A mount according to claim 8, in which the central portion of thewasher is raised above the level of said horizontal portion.

11. A mount according to claim 8, in which said biasing member is acompression spring coiled around the pin.

i s 12. A mount for insertion in a hole'in the bottom of a furniture legextending at an acute angle to the floor, which comprises afloor-engaging element having a horizontal bottom, a cushion secured tosaid element and positioned thereon to lie between the bottom of the legand said element, an assembly pin projecting upward from the cushion atan acute angle to the bottom of the floor-engaging element, a polygonalflexible retainer secured to the pin above the cushion and havingcorners protruding laterally from the pin and engageable with the sidewalls of the hole to retain the mount on the leg, the central por:- tionof the retainer being in a plane normal to the pin but inclined relativeto the bottom of said element, and a yieldable biasing membersurrounding the pin and compressed between the retainer and the cushion,the biasing member urging said central portion of the retainer upward. vi

V 13. A mount according to claim 8, in which the assembly pin issubstantially straight throughout its length, the pin having at itslower portion a head which is embedded in the cushion at a region offsetlaterally from the central portion of the cushion.

14. A mount according to claim 8, in which the assembly pin has at itslower portion a head embedded in the central portion of the cushion, the

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 918,082 Palmer Apr. 13, 19091,580,781 Fitch Apr. 13, 1926 2,155,829 Herold Apr. 25, 1939 2,238,705Miller Apr. 15, 1941 2,513,194 Miller June 27, 1950

